STRESS INTENSITY FACTORS FOR SEMIELLIPTIC SURFACE CRACKS IN SEMICIRCULARLY NOTCHED TENSION PLATES

Stress intensity factors for semi-elliptical surface cracks located at the centre of a semicircular edge notch in a finite thickness plate s ubjected to a remote tensile load are presented in a tabulated format. A wide range of geometry ratios are considered. They are all combinat ions of the following ratios: the ratio of crack surface half-length t o plate half-thickness, c/t = 0.2, 0.4, 0.6, 0.8 and 0.95; the ratio o f crack depth to surface half-length, a/c = 0.2, 0.4, 0.6, 0.8 and 1; and the ratio of notch radius to plate half-thickness, r/t = 0.5, 1, 2 and 3. Both the quarter-point displacement and J-integral methods bas ed on three-dimensional finite element analyses were employed for the calculation of stress intensity factors. The calculation accuracy was studied by analysing the J-integral path independence and comparing st ress intensity factor results with other solutions available in the li terature.